English Writing and Reading tutor in Wezembeek/Tervuren area

I began teaching my oldest child (now seven years old) to read when she was four using 'Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" by Siegfried Engelmann, an effective text I highly recommend. It took us approximately one year to finish. I am now using it to teach my second child, who is now four years old. They attend a French-language school. Please let me know if you would like additional information.

The book is inexpensive. http://www.rainbowresource.com/proddtl.php?id=002274
This is one of the largest suppliers of educational materials for homeschoolers. It will also have "handwriting without tears"

As for writing, start with the material in that book. We began with some flour or cornmeal in a large shallow cake pan and traced the letter shapes with our fingers. We moved on to finger paint on the bathroom tile during tub time. Finally, jumbo crayons on the newsprint saved from our moving boxes, and then finally a large Junior pencil on some computer printer paper.

All of these options are cheap and easy to adapt and find for your household. Simply using coloring books or coloring sheets (free from the internet) as well as encouraging general "art" work strengthens and improves fine motor control.

Don't worry to much. Your child is very young and will have plenty of time to catch up within the American school system. When you arrive in the US, make the effort to get to your local public library as soon as possible. Reading a wide variety of children's books to your child is by far the most effective way to increase their academic success. I recommend Jim Trelease's book about family "read-alouds" as a great resource for interesting books for the entire family. His suggestions are graded for appropriate age groups.

If you can find both books I've listed, your investment will be about $25 and a few more euros in basic art supplies such as crayons and paper is all you need. Make sure the "lessons" are short and fun. HTH

I'm going to continue to comment on the situation.
Of course, you can hire some one, ($$$$) and of course you can create inexpensive and fun lessons at home by yourself. ($$)

However, your family is relocating and the child is young. This is a stressful transition time for everyone.

Remember a couple of things about American education.

One, there is the time when the child CAN go to school and the time when the child MUST go to school. These vary by state and because of the increasing academic demands of kindergarten, there is the trend of "red-shirting", that is holding children back for their start of school until they MUST attend. IMO, this is not such a bad thing....see http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/03/magazine/03kindergarten-t.html?pagewan...

Secondly, your child attends a Flemish school where I'm assuming all instruction is in Flemish, thus your kid is either bilingual or becoming bilingual. The US is a nation of immigrants where the public schools are trained and adept at helping youngsters achieve fluency in English. Make sure your new school knows that your kid has been educated in Flemish and arrange for ESL support services for the first year. This is of no cost to you.

Finally, for the easiest and low cost option for you and your family during this stressful time. Take time out for some family "art" time. Either color, draw, or paint. This helps develop eye-hand coordination and well as fine motor skills. This helps tremendously when the time comes to actually write the alphabet.

When you get to the US, get to your public library. Each community will have one. Sign up for a library card and begin to borrow books. Most libraries have lavish children's sections and specially trained children's librarians to help parents. Make this a regular part of your routine. Visit the library weekly. If you do nothing else, visiting the library is the one of the easiest and cheapest ways to help any student achieve academic success.

Finally, read together each day.

There is no real reason to worry about hiring a qualified English-speaking tutor at this time. At this age, your kid will make up the difference within the US education system in no time, they will be supported and not penalized for it.

(Having said all this, my comments apply to the US public school system, that is the government funded schools. If you are sending your child to a private school, they have their own rules, expectations and levels of academic support, that vary from comprehensive to nothing at all. Their academic credibility varies, just as the public schools', from excellent to poor. The choice of public or private education is up to each family involved.)

My advice to you is....relax, take a deep breath, breathe.....cross this worry off your list and get on with your packing. Everything will sort itself out in a matter of months once your family is settled. Children are far more resilient than we adults give them credit. A happy, relaxed transition to a new school will go farther than one fraught with anxiety about academic performance.

(Okay, NOW, I said my bit and I hope this helps.)

Have you tried talking to other parents of children in the same class. I am teaching a 4.5 year old in that area at the present time. (UK not US)

Hi when we went back to the uk from Brussels 8 years ago, our son who was at c.a.t level in international school went into a class of children who had been reading and spelling for three years. It took some work for the staff to adjust to giving him the correct level of spelling this had to be promoted by me, it including me telling his teacher i didnt gove a fig if her SAT results were reduced by his performance. However when he left primary three years later he was at the top set for all subjects. Don't forget even children who have spent all their time in school in USA will have different levels of intelligence and ability. Do not stress unless your child has special educational needs they will catch up in a very fast time indeed.

I am a certified English teacher by the Cambridge University, and I have more than 10 years of experience teaching English at all levels.
I was raised in the United States of America.

I offer two ways of taking the English course:
You can either follow the lessons face-to-face or online, via Skype.
I currently work for Learnissimo.com as a professional Language teacher online.
I have been teaching online for a couple years now, and my lessons have always had a great deal of success.

http://www.learnissimo.com/en/teacher/

I'd like to emphasize that I always work with the best English teaching material out there. Also, all my lessons are tailored to meet my students' needs, and I constantly make sure that everyone progresses steadily.
Indeed, I offer all my students a close follow-up of their work outside of the classroom, and I always complement what has been taught during class time, by e-mail.

I hope this information is helpful and again I'd like to thank you for your kind interest, best regards, Jaime

Email: jimxyz@gmail.com

Telephone number: 0488 112 716

Hi,

I was raised in the US educational system and can vouch that your child will likely be quite fine as the teachers will work closely with her to help her catch up.

However, if you are looking for a tutor still at this point, I am moving to Brussels in June and have past experience teaching ages 3-15 years at a Canadian school in South Korea, as well as at-home tutoring with young kids. The majority of my students were between 3 and 6 years of age and through interactive cross-discipline learning they were able to read, write, and speak English very well. I am looking to use my past experience to tutor any students I can while in Brussels, so please don't hesitate to contact me and I can send you my CV and references if you so wish.

Best of luck to your daughter. I'm sure she will be just fine and adjust well as long as she is engaged and excited to learn in whichever way you think is best.

Email: brookdub@gmail.com